Coelbren () is a small

rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry are typically desc ...

village within the

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

of Tawe Uchaf in southernmost

Powys Powys ( , ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county and Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county in Wales. It borders Gwynedd, Denbighshire, and Wrexham County Borough, Wrexham to the north; the English Ceremonial counties of England, ceremo ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. It lies on the very northern edge of the

South Wales Coalfield The South Wales Coalfield () extends across Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Bridgend, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Merthyr Tydfil, Caerphilly, Blaenau Gwent and Torfaen. It is rich in coal deposits, especially in the South Wales ...

some six miles north-east of

Ystradgynlais Ystradgynlais (; ) is a town in southwest Powys, Wales. It is located on the River Tawe, and was within the boundaries of the former county of Brecknockshire. The town has a high proportion of Welsh language-speakers. The community includes C ...

and just outside the southern boundary of the

Brecon Beacons National Park Brecon Beacons National Park, officially named Bannau Brycheiniog National Park (), is a National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in Wales. It is named after the Brecon Beacons (), the mountain range at its centre. The national park ...

. It is known for

Henrhyd Falls Henrhyd Falls ( Welsh: ''Sgwd Henrhyd'') in the Brecon Beacons National Park, Wales, is the tallest waterfall in southern Wales, with a drop of . It lies on National Trust land, in the county of Powys. The nearest settlement is Coelbren, on the ...

, a 27m high

waterfall A waterfall is any point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in seve ...

which serves as a

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

-managed visitor attraction on the Nant Llech. To the east of the village flows the

Afon Pyrddin The Afon Pyrddin is a river forming a short section of the boundary between Powys and Neath Port Talbot in Wales, United Kingdom. It also forms a part of the boundary of the Brecon Beacons National Park. The river and its waterfalls are one of the ...

which plunges over two more spectacular falls. As first edition Ordnance Survey maps of the area show, the name 'Coelbren' applied to a farmhouse and chapel before the modern village developed and is recorded in the name ''Tyre y Kolbren'' in 1503 where it signifies the sharing of land (modern Welsh 'tir') by means of drawing lots, a 'coelbren' being translated amongst other things as an 'inscribed piece of wood' or 'omen-stick'.

History

The

Roman road Roman roads ( ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Republic and the Roman Em ...

Sarn Helen Sarn Helen refers to several stretches of Roman road in Wales. The route, which follows a meandering course through central Wales, connects Aberconwy in the north with Carmarthen in the west. Despite its length, academic debate continues as t ...

runs close to the village on its eastern side. Its remains and that of a

Roman fort ''Castra'' () is a Latin term used during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire for a military 'camp', and ''castrum'' () for a 'fort'. Either could refer to a building or plot of land, used as a fortified military base.. Included is a discuss ...

are now much degraded. The Brecon Forest Tramroad was constructed through the village in the 1820s. Of note to the east of Coelbren is the site of Banwen Ironworks, whose partial survival is owed to its early failure. It was constructed in the 1840s by speculators from London but may have produced only 80 tons of

pig iron Pig iron, also known as crude iron, is an intermediate good used by the iron industry in the production of steel. It is developed by smelting iron ore in a blast furnace. Pig iron has a high carbon content, typically 3.8–4.7%, along with si ...

, the whole exercise being enveloped in a financial scandal. From the 1873, Coelbren was the location of a significant junction on the

Neath and Brecon Railway The Dulas Valley Mineral Railway was incorporated in 1862 to bring coal from the Onllwyn area north-east of Neath to the quays there, and in the following year was reconstituted as the Neath and Brecon Railway. The line was opened as far as Onllw ...

whence a 7-mile branch diverged leading to the Swansea Vale Railway at Ynysygeinon. The contractor John Dickson had a terrace of houses constructed quite possibly for navvies working on the line and known originally as Dickson's Row though now known as Price's Row. The lines closed in 1962 though the trackbed can still be seen almost encircling the eastern part of the village. The route to Swansea Vale has now been converted into a cycleway as Route 43 of the

National Cycle Network The National Cycle Network (NCN) was established to encourage cycling and walking throughout the United Kingdom, as well as for the purposes of bicycle touring. It was created by the charity Sustrans who were aided by a £42.5 million N ...

linking the village with

; it is planned that the trackbed northwards towards

Brecon Brecon (; ; ), archaically known as Brecknock, is a market town in Powys, mid Wales. In 1841, it had a population of 5,701. The population in 2001 was 7,901, increasing to 8,250 at the 2011 census. Historically it was the county town of Breck ...

should also form part of Route 43. A school was opened in the village in 1894, housed at first in the vestry of Moriah Baptist Chapel. It was transferred to a new purpose-built site further west on Heol Eglwys in 1898 and in 1912 it was greatly expanded. The original Coelbren Welfare and Memorial Hall was built towards the top of Station Road in 1925 and served until the 1990s when the current building was constructed. The A4221 road linking

Abercraf Abercraf (also ; or Abercrave) is a village in Powys, Wales, in the community of Ystradgynlais and within the historic boundaries of the county of Brecknockshire. A distinct dialect of English is spoken in the village, as well as the Welsh lang ...

with the A4109 Inter Valley Road ( Glynneath to Aberdulais) near

Dyffryn Cellwen Dyffryn Cellwen is a village in the County Borough of Neath Port Talbot, South Wales. It is situated in the upper Dulais Valley near the junction of the A4109 and A4221 roads, northwest of the smaller settlement of Banwen. It is part of the co ...

passes to the immediate south of the village, its construction later in the 20th century rendering the village less isolated than it had been hitherto.

References

External links

Photos of Coelbren and surrounding area on geograph.org.uk
{{authority control Villages in Powys Fforest Fawr